LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap?vr_ ('oi)yri<;lit No. 






UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



BOOKS BY CLARENCEIHAWKES. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Containing: 75 new poems with 33 illustrations from drawings and paintings. Hand- 
somely bound in green cloth with cover design in gold and colored edges. Price, 51.50. 
run gilt, S2.00. New England Publishing Co., .Springfield, Mass. 



SONGS FOR COLUMBIA'S HEROES. 

Containing 77 new war poems with 35 illustrations from photographs, drawings, and 
paintings. Elegantly bound in cloth with cover design and title in gold. Price, postpaid, 
$1.25. Full morocco with gilt top, $2.00. New England Publishing Co., Springfield, 
Mass. 



IDYLS OF OLD NEW ENGLAND. 

By Clarence Hawkes, with 70 illustrations by R. Lionel De Lisser and Bessie W. Bell, 
164 pages. Elegantly bound with cover designs in gold. Price, $1.60. Full morocco 
with extra ornamentation on cover, and gilt top. Price, $2.60. Picturesque Publishing 
Co., Northampton, Mass. 



THREE LITTLE FOLKS. 

Verses for children, by Clarence Hawkes, with 37 illustrations by R. Lionel De Lisser 
and Bessie W. Bell. 102 pages. Printed upon heavy enameled paper with handsome 
cover design. Price, $1.00. Picturesque Publishing Co., Northampton, Mass. 



PEBBLES AND SHELLS. 

Verses by Clarence Hawkes, with eight illustrations by Elbridge Eingsley. 207 pages. 
12mo. Handsome cloth binding. Price, $1.25. Picturesque Publishing Co., North- 
ampton, Mass. 

Office Address ; Hadley, Mass. 



FRIENDLY WORDS FROM AUTHORS. 



In both man and poet I find a nobility and grace commanding my respect and 
admiration. — James Whitcoinb Riley. 

I think your sonnet, "The Movintain to the Pine,'* very beautiful ; it makes me think 
that you see the true inwardness of things better for not seeing the outer semblance. 
—Miss Mnry E. Wilkhis. 

In fiiielity of description and wealth of imagery your "New England Winter" is not 
unworthy of the author of " Snnw-Bound.'* — Alfred A. Fnrnian. 

The world becomes your debtor for the additional brightness you have given to life by 
reflecting so clearly, in spite of blinded eyes, another ray of the inextinguishable light. 
—Prrs. L. aark Seelye. 

I love your poetic gift, and your work aud welfare will always be sacred to ine. — 
Hezekiah Buttcnvorth. 

Mr. Hawkes' dialect poems are as ipiaint as James Whitcomb Riley's, and his children's 
poems compare favorably with those of Eugene Field.— ^/r. Chntirs HaVork. 

It is both a rebuke and an inspiration to us who enjoy the full liberty of our senses to 
see how large and beautiful a world your cadenced lines furnish to the conceptions of 
your spiritual vision.— J/r. Georfje W. Cnhle. 

We might call the book " a blind man's life set to sweet music, and bright with the inner 
light which bodily conditions cannot mar." — JuVm It'ortf Hoive. 

I have read many of the yntems with genuine i)leasure, and am struck by their purity 
and earnestness of thought and feeling. — Mrs. Laura E. liicharrffi. 

1 find your little volume of verse one to be prized and treasured. — Pres. Mrrrill E. Oafes. 

The humor of your humorous poems is very fine and delicate and as good of its kind as 
I have ever read. — Blanche Fearing. 







o 
K 

u 
K 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD 



AIND OTHER POEMS. 



BY 

CLARENCE HAWKES. 



With illustrations by R. Lionel De Lisser, Clifton Johnson, and 
Bessie W. Bell Hawkes. 



NEW ENGLAND PUBLISHING CO., 

SPRINGFIELD, MASS. 

1900. 

OFFICE ADDRESS, HADLEY, MASS. 



8503 



of C^ornirt-";- 



NOV 21 1900 

SE(,ON0 COPY 

Di^l'vMcd to 

ORDEH OIViSIOM 

MOV 24 laUu 



1=S 3S-I S" 
\(\ oo 



Copyright, 1900. 
By Clarence Hawkes. 



PRESS OF 

SPRINOFICLO PR<NT1»0 AND BIhDIMQ COMFAN' 

SPRlNOflELO, MASS. 



TO THE MEMORY OF 

DR. SAMUEL G. HOWE 

WHO, THROUGH THE MANY NOBLE DEEDS THAT 

CROWNED HIS REMARKABLE LIFE, STILL 

LIVES TO BLESS US. 



THE HERO. 

Lines written for Dr. Howe hi/ John Grcenleaf Whittier. 

*' O for a knight like Bayard, ' 

Without reproach or fear; 
My lij^ht glove on his casque of steel, 
My love-knot on his spear! 

^ "ih ^/r -y.- 

" Wherever outraged Nature 
Asks word or action brave, 
Wherever struggles labor, 
Wherever groans a slave, — 

" Wherever rise the peoples, 
Wherever sinks a throne, 
The throbbing heart of Freedom finds 
An answer in his own. 

" Knight of a better era. 

Without reproach or fear! 
Said I uot well that Bayards 
And Sidneys still are here? " 




"Singing that naught in Heaven or Earth can still." 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. 



The Author wishes hereby to acknowledge the courtesy of the 
following publications, which have permitted poems to appear in 
this volume that were first printed in their columns :— 

The Outlook, The Overland Monthly, The Congregationalist, The 
New England Magazine, The Woman's Home Companion, Forward, 
The Home Magazine, Donahoe's Magazine, Good Housekeeping, 
New England Homestead, and Springfield Republican. 



CONTENTS. 

Inteoduction, hij Charles Goodrich Whiting, 20 

THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 

Part I. The Builders 25 

Part II. The Pipes of Freedom 30 

Part III. A I^ight of Despair 37 

Part IV. The Dawn of Faith i5 

Part V. The Hope of the World 49 

THE BIRD CHORUS. 

Sing, Robin, Sing 55 

Hey, Robert Lincoln 55 

The Skylark's Song 57 

The Whip-Poor-Will's Song 58 

A ISTightingale Song 59 

TRILLS AK^D TURXS. 

The Violin 60 

Love's Invocation '. *^0 

A Bouquet '^1 

Man's Sacrilege *^1^ 

Does She Know ? "1 

Tears at Dawn ^1 

The Envoy ''>- 

All is Well '''2 

The Little Star '52 



l6 CONTENTS. 

My Heaven 62 

Fallen Petals 63 

Who Baetees Man 63 

My Woeld 64 

A Memory 64 

Aet's Seceet 64 

Feeedom Afield 64 

Heaven is about Us 65 

The Kainbow 65 

Geeed 66 

A Bit of Heaven 66 

The Peesent Joy 66 

pooe iseaei 66 



MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. 

The Othee Day 69 

Alone 70 

The Unbidden Guest 70 

At the Theeshold 71 

Teaes foe the Living 71 

Anothee Day 72 

Folly and Feiendship 73 

Tieed Hands 73 

An Eastee Message 74 

God's Mandate 74 

Love's Awakening 74 

A Deeam of Death 77 

Teansition 77 

A Blossom from Memory 78 



CONTENTS. 17 

Omnipresence 78 

To Milton 78 

Eejuvenation 79 

The Patkiot's Prater 80 

Heaven 80 

O Ye of Little Faith 80 

Thoughts foe November 81 

The Heart of Man a Flower 82 

Altitude : 82 

Enough for Me 83 

Truth is God 83 

Resignation 83 

The Creed of the Hills 84 

Heaven is where God's Angels are 84 

Escaped 84 

Peace on Earth 87 

As A Little Child 88 

Economy of Nature 88 

The Might of Love 88 

Meditation 89 

Only a Little 89 

My Cup Runneth Over 90 

Prayer 90 

The Exile 90 

Generation and Regeneration 92 

An Alien 92 

A Vision of Life 92 

The Compact 92 

A Cloud 93 

True Kingship 93 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 

"The Hope of the World." ■ Fkontispiece 

"Singing that Naught in Heaven oe Earth can Still." 12 

Portrait of the Authok 14 

"The Toilers." 23 

"Cutting the Cordon of the Solid Cliff." 26 

"The Builders." 28 

"Yea, Die for Liberty." 30 

"O War's Gehenna, Tragedy of Hell." 33 

"Each Blade of Grass for Justice Cries," 35 

"He Eats and Sleeps, then Passes on his Way." 37 

"In Which to Sleep, and Sleeping be Forgot." 39 

"But ONLY' Deepening Shadows Make Reply'." 42 

"God is the Sun, the Warmth, the Wonder, and the 

Might." 44 

"All Nature Understands the Touch Divine," .... 46 

"There is Something in the Earth and Air." 48 

"And Every Flower He Knew." 50 

"O'er Land and Sea He Broodeth with His Wings." . . 53 

"Chasing the Sunbeams Over a Shallow." 56 

"Whip-poor-will, Whip-poor-will, Under the Hill." . 58 

"A Bit of Nature." 59 

"With Tiny Eivers Laughing Down Each Slope." ... 63 

"Freedom Afield." 65 

"Heart of the Torrent, Pulsing Wild and Free." . . 67 



ILLUSTRATIONS. 



19 



"Where 'Neath the Grass a Ximule River Ran,". ... 69 

"When the Day is Done." 72 

"A Rustic Maid, Her Tryst t(j Keep." 75 

"Blossoms Forming, Rivers Flowing." 79 

"When Waning Autumn, as the Days Grow Di^l". . 81 

"Truth Shall Outlive Yon Granite Rocks." 85 

"In Watches of the Xight." 87 

"Out of the Heart of Thjngs Unknown." 89 

"As jSTight Doth Follow Day." 91 

Tailpiece 93 




INTRODUCTION. 

Mr. Clarence Hawkes has long since awakened not only 
a sympathy such as must rightly be given to one blind of 
physical sight, but the more important sympathy which follows 
that compensatory inner sight of the poet. Indeed, there is a 
certain spiritualization which aptly derives from that privative 
fate, and is constantly felt in the poetic writings of Mr. Hawkes. 
He is thereby removed from the world, and exalted above it, 
in a degree which places him in touch with the greater singers 
and seers, and gives to his utterances a character of vaticination. 
As the years have gone on, and Mr. Hawkes has passed from 
the position of the popular entertainer to the place of the 
prophet, — which is that of the singer in the days of minstrelsy, 
— he demands a wider consideration, and deserves it. 

Mr. Hawkes's group of thoughts and emotions, which he 
calls "The Hope of the World," marks an advance in his power 
of expression, but also a stirring of depths in his nature and 
an arousing of spiritual convictions which he had not before 
discovered. The "Hope of the World," of course, is love. 
And it is a singular and striking thing that Mr. Hawkes breaks 
into the great theme on the further side — the animosity and 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

the oppression of workers by classes of privileged power, in 
past days, even until now. It is in fact in the verses of the 
first two parts, — "The Builders" and "Pipes of Freedom," — 
that the vigor and influence of his thought are seen. These 
are not dilettante versifying — they possess heart's blood. This 
is the key : — 



Out of the glow, out of the sunset sky, 
Ever the same, there comes a human cry. 
Stay, Lord ! hold. Sun ! a little longer stay ! — 
But only deepening shadows make reply. 
****** 

"Give me the cup of life," the fool did cry, 
"And let me drain it deep, e'en though I die!" 
He took the cup, and drained it to the dregs. 
Then turned it bottom up, and heaved a sigh. 



Omar Khayyam, it is plain, and there is much other frank 
evidence thereof, but what one finds is, after all, the evidence 
of patience covered in and buoyed up by the grace of that 
hope inspired by human help and that divine promise which 
breathes in the very fact of life. 

As for poetry, these stanzas, rather loosely held together 
by their watchword. Love, are overbrimmed with it. Mr. 
Hawkes has come to his own as jjoet, and cannot be questioned 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

of liis place. He uses, but with very great difference, the 
Fitzgerakl quatrain with its third unrhyming line, and it is 
effective to convey the strong, sonorous message of his in- 
dignation and warning over the tendencies of our nation. In 
this lies his great aim of the present work, simply because 
there he assumes the consummate burden which is laid upon 
the poet as vates — the soothsayer, whom it would be well for 
the nation to heed. As another poet has lately written : — 



"Oh, let the angel be at once obeyed 
That comes of pardon and of peace to tell." 



Mr. ITawkes's blindness adds nothing to the value of his 
verse or of his tliought, but also, it must be said, it does not 
need to be considered in judging of the merit of his work. It 
is simply one interesting incident in a poet's career, and is 
to be judged as other incidents are. That it has had its in- 
fluence in shaping his contemplation of the earth and its con- 
flicting dramas, that it has toned down his lightsome heart and 
deepened his reflective judgment, is certain. But Mr. Hawk^'s 
privation of a precious sense in no respect affects these very 
noteworthy songs, and especially leaves untouched the remark- 
able sequence of stanzas entitled "The Hope of the World." 

— CiiAELES Goodrich Whiting. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD. 
Paet I. 



THE BUILDEES. 



I hear the tramp of empire's pond'rous feet, 
With hideous hoofs that thunder through the street, 
That crush the weak and bear aloft the strong. 
And human agonv is in each beat. 



"b^ 



Where are the toilers who have labored long, 
Into whose ear was never breathed a song. 
Who knew but work all through the wi-etched day. 
And then dull sleep for labor to be strong ? 

Where are the builders of the centuries, 
Laboring afield and toiling on the seas. 
Using for bricks their human hearts and brains. 
Merging their lives in others' destinies ? 

Where are the builders of great water-ways. 
Expanding ocean into creeks and bays. 
Cutting the cordon of the solid cliff? 
We know them not, no poet sings their praise. 

Where are these toilers with the pick and spade. 
Bridging the river and the everglade. 
Beating their heads against the mountain-side, 
Upon whose back the yoke of earth is laid ? 



26 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Where are the toilers with the sword and spear 
For whom the world has never shed one tear, 
Who huilded emijire with their sweat and blood ? 
Tell me, despots, if ye have no fear ! 

The twice ten thousand put to deatli with shame 
On wheel or rack or swallowed up in flame 
Are overshadowed in the lapse of time 
By the bright luster of a conqueror's name. 




CUTTING THE CORDON UF TllK MjLlIi LLlll. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 2] 

Where are the millions who have lived and died, 
Carried their crosses and been crucified, 
Robbed of their joy e'en from the hour of birth, 
And all, to sate a Caesar's haughty pride? 

When God first set the orbit of the stars 

And lashed them each to each with fragile bars 

Of silver light, /md placed the sun by day 

To riile the spheres, where were earth's kings and czars ? 

Not all arc fools who wear the jester's gown, 
Full many a prince hath better played the clown, 
For cap and bells may hide a deal of wit 
Wliile oft a pate is addled by a crown. 

If God is just, and else He is not God, 
He did not make thy fellow-man a clod 
And thee a prince, to rule him by thy might, 
Is'or left a scepter, save His chastening rod. 

If truth is right, and else it shall not stand, 
God gave the ocean and the beauteous laud 
With equal rights unto the sons of men 
That all might sec His love and understand. 

But how hath man perverted God's decree 
By placing bound'ries o'er the land and sea, 
That some may o^vn, where others shall not walk, 
Or e'en enjoy a blossom or a tree. 



28 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

There is a king whose name is yellow gold 
And at his mart are all things bought and sold ; 
Position, fame, and even love or hate, — 
And when he frowns, is himger, want, and cold. 

Hope folds her wings and sits disconsolate, 
She cannot soar, when man is wholly sate 
With gain of gold, so that he cannot see 
The angels Trutii and Beauty at his gate. 

God giveth rest unto the sons of men, 
Man planneth toil within the sweater's den. 
Toil in the mines and toil upon the plains, 
Rest for the one, but labor for the ten. 




"THE BUILDERS." 



THE HOPE OF THE WOKI.D AND OTHER POEMS. 

O ci'nniMiiifi' walls of Ninevelis and Troys, 
The child who builds a block honsp with his toys 
Ilatli labored e'en as ye, yet ruin came 
And neither builder sees why God destroys. 

Palatial city, with thy turrets tall, 
^Yhose con(]uerini;' sword did vanquish one and all. 
So great thou wast, so sated with thy strength, 
Thou didst nut heed tile writing un the wall. 

pyraniiils ()f Egypt, wondrous, vast, 

'Idiy kings and queens unto their deeds have passed. 

And thou shalt fall as sure as Ilorus shines 

And royal ashes to the desert cast. 

Is this sad wall, of dai'k and crund)ling stones. 
That tiine hath eaten like a dead man's bones, 
The bulwark of old Rome who ruled the world 
And bnilded empire from a hundred thrones ? 

Jerusalem, of Daxid and of Said, 
Riches and fame came quickly at thy call, 
But on thy crown there is a crimson stain 
Since Christ was crucitied beneath thy wall. 

O song of Eden, when the -^vorld was young, 
Before the heart of man by greed was wi'ung, 
Breathe in my soul thy strains of pure desire 
That I mav siu"' a son" in heaven's toncue. 



30 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

let Christ's spirit through the world awake, 
Let hands reach down and hands degenerate take, 
Let shoulders strong bear burdens for the weak. 
Let love abide e'en for the whole world's sake. 







"YEA, DIE FOR LIBERTY." 

Part 11. 

pipes of feeedom. 

Poor Liberty ! a nomad with a tent, 
Moving from land to land, half naked, six-nt 
With toil of travel and with hunger gaunt. 
Sheltered a day, then onward rudely sent ! 

O God! how many an Arnold Winkelricd 
Must fall upon the spears, and wounded, bleed. 
Yea, die for liberty, before the world 
Thy righteous mandate will forever heed ! 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 3 1 

O Christ! how many a deed of sacrifice 
Have brave men done between Thy day and this ! 
And yet the Avorld rolls on, all unconcerned, 
AVliilo brave men feel the sting- of Judas' kiss. 

Where patriots fall, by ruthless tyrants slain, 
The blood-root grows to memorize the stain ; 
And each small blade of grass for justice cries, 
"This is the spot — beliold it! — Cain! Cain! Cain!" 

Sin on our soul and blood upon our hands ! 
FiUl-gorged and sate, the demon war god stands, 
His heinous hoof upon the neck of truth. 
His path of fire and smoke across brave lands. 

With fire and smoke man covers up the sky. 
By smoke and tire tlie trei'S and grasses die; 
Loved homesteads fall and cities sink to dust, 
And through the land resounds the orphan's cry. 

.1 

Justice to all and favors unto none 
If we would hold the laurels we have won ; 
Xor mould our comitry to the old world's creed 
That crushes thousands, to uphold the one. 

When we shall own the brotherhood of men, 
Justice for all and not for one in ten, 
Freedom for all under a common law, 
Will war and discord cease, and not till then. 



32 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

"God give lis peace!" the hills and valleys cry, 
"Christ give us I'cst from war !" the zephyrs sigh ; 
The hrooks and hirds are interceding, too, — 
Bnt only hideons eaniiim make reply. 

Each patriot martyr who for truth luitli bled 
ifust turn uneasy in his narrow bed, 
To hear again the tramp of marching feet, 
To know once more the axe of war is red. 

O war 's Gehenna, tragedy of hell, 
Ambition's curse, through which old empires fell. 
Thy heinous sword has caused more teai's to flow 
Than from all other causes ever fell. 

Are brave men then so plenty tliat we feed 
The vultn-re and the jackal on their seed '^ 
Give carrion to the crows ; but human flesh, 
For nol)ler ends, humanity hath need. 

If war must rear its hideous Cyclops head. 
Its mangled living and its butchered dead. 
Be strong, O sons of Liberty, and strike 
Until the robes of tyranny are red. 

Amid the shock, the grind, the sulphurous glare. 
The crush of empire, and the wild despair 
Of sleepless nights, that turn the heart to stone, — 
O God of mercy, hear a mother's prayer ! 




'O war's GEHENNA, TRAGEDY OF HEI.L. 



THE HOl'E OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



35 



Can we teach Christ imto benighted souls. 
When throiigli their land the tide of battle rolls, 
When hearth and lunne with fire we desecrate, 
And everv hand its enp of sorrow holds? 

Each dro]i of liiniian blood that we shall spill, 
Each human aspiration we shall kill, 
Shall be a tongue to cry aloud each day 
For us to hear, — a tongue that naught can still. 

Our father Line(.)ln unce in wisdom said 
For every drop of blood that we have shed 
Beneath the lash, a drop of ours must flow 
E'en though it run until the sea be red. 



In each man's soul there is a spark of God, 
It matters not be he the meanest clod, 
And when we shackle hands that God made free, 
Remember then His spirit is downtrod. 







" EACH BLADE OF GRASS FOR JUSTICE CRIES." 



r 



36 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

There is implanted in each human breast, 
That God himself has recognized and blest, 
A deep desire for liberty and truth, 
And on this hope humanity must rest. 

There is no path that lies 'twixt right and wning, 
Tf \vc shall crush the weak when we are strong, 
The strong shall crush us some day when we faint. 
And we shall feel the cudgel and the thong-. 



■'fe- 



Christ lifted up His cross on Calvary 
From tyranny of sin to set men free; 
Shall we annul His awful sacritice ? 
Better a millstone sink us in the sea ! 

'T is not a case of might, — but worthiness, 
God comforts those who seek His holiness, 
Christ smiles on those who wear His crown of thorns, 
His comrades, they who share in His distress. 

Think not because the sentence cometh late, 
That thou shalt foil the iron hand of fate; 
God waits for man, love helps Him to endure 
The things He hates,- — He will not always wait. 

Thy kingdom come upon this world indeed! 
Teach us, O T.ord, the emptiness of greed. 
Of gaining all and yet of having naught ; 
Show us the way e'en though our feet shall bleed. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



17 



By Christ's dead body and its winding sheet, 
Bv all the nail prints in His hands and feet, 
I pray, O legislators ! men of state, 
That justice unto all inaidcind ye mete. 



Pakt III. 

A jVicuit of despaik. 

The rose may bloom and blnsh its life away. 
But man abides his time, — the foolish say ; 
Man is a transient at this earthly inn, 
lie eats and sleeps, then passes on his way. 




"he eats and sleeps, then passes UN HIS WAY." 



38 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Heart of the smi, a-quiver in the rose, 
To-day the buds, to-morrow are the blows, 
To-day the child, to-morrow is the man, 
A little Slimmer e'er the time of snows. 

Garden of hopes, where childhood's blossoms grew, 
Fed by the snn and watered by the dew. 
How broken are thy flowers, how faded now. 
How fnll of thorns, which childhood never knew! 

Down to my cell a prisoner I go, 
Whore loved ones sleep, a melancholy row, 
A i^risoner for life, the sentence read, — 
Or was it death ? I really do not know. 

Isly dungeon is a narrow six by twn, 

No sun, no rain, no blossoms and no dew, 

A musty place of crumbling wood and bones, 

Witli naught but sleep and sleep the ages through. 

It is not much to have so small a plot 

In which to sleep and sleeping be forgot, 

But if we leave behind tliis endless pain 

And thoughts of death, we siidiild not shun the spot. 

Down in the damj) where mold and fungus grow, 
How shall I hear my little brook-friend flow. 
Or see the daisies ope their wond'ring eyes, 
And if dear robin calls, how shall I know ? 




" IN WHICH TO SLEEP AMI SLEEPING KE FORGOT.' 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 4I 

Tf we sliall sleep and sleeping pass away, 
E'en like the clew that vanishes by day. 
To what fair land shall this brave spirit roam, 
And wlio shall lialiit then this house of c-lay t 

There comes a whisper in the half-grown grass ; 
Was it a thought of God that swift did pass, 
Or was it just the elffolk dancing by 
To keej) thrir trysts — I cannot tell, alas! 

If we coidd cut this carnal envelope 

And read tlie letter that 's within, would Hope 

Rise np triumphant to the skies, 

Or would she fold her wings and sit and mope ? 

There is a lock upon the castle gate, 
Will death give up the key if we but wait ? 
Within is God and shelter for mankind, 
Withoiit is man, cold, hiuigry, desolate. 

When God shall come in beauty and in truth, 
Dividing spirit from its carnal woof. 
Shall man emerge from gloom to grope in light? 
For in that hour what soul shall stand aloof? 

Shall Ave lose all emerging then from self. 
Like ancient books be laid upon the shelf, 
Because once read we are no longer strange ? 
Better a world of sin and a grain of self. 



42 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Out of tlie glow, out of tlie sunset sky, 
Ever the same, there comes a human cry; 
Stay, Lord, liold, sun, a little longer stay. 
But only deeiu'iiing shadows make reply. 




"but only DEEPEM.NG MiAlJuWs MAKE REPLY. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 43 

Tlie birth of seasons and the dawn of years, 
The fall of blossoms and the fall of tears, 
The hope for joy, and the cup of pain, 
Are all life's tragedy of Innnan fears. 

"Give nie the cup of life," the fool did cry, 
"And let me drain it deep, e'en thongh I die ;" 
He took the cup and drained it to the dregs, 
Then turned it bottom n]i and heaved a sigh. 



"Uring me a liarji,"' the master minstrel said, 
"For on this day will ]iain and pleasure wed:" 
The harp was brought, tliG wedding feast 'was 
Now thorns and roses flourish in one bed. 



ai<l 



O, what are dreams that they should seem so true ? 
And from this earthly dream of me and you 
Shall we awake some morn to find it naught, 
A phantom night from which creation grew ? 

Here is a puzzle, friend : behold this rose. 
Falling to dust and going no man knows 
Just how or where; canst thou it re-create, 
Refashion it for either eye, or nose? 

The falling leaves, methinks, are nature's tears. 
Shed by the forest when tlie first frost sears 
Its aspirations for eternal yiiuth ; 
And how like falling' leaves are human fears! 



44 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

There is no space that is quite infinite ; 
Unto its Maker earth is Lnt a bit, 
Unto the fly a little space is all. 
Each magnifies his rrahn to suit his wit. 

Grief came to me with piteous eves one clay 
And bade me look on her; I turned away. 
When lo! she stood before nie naked quite, 
My eyes grew sudden dim, my locks turned g'ray. 

There is a thorn beneath the fairest blodui. 
Beyond each j^erfect day the shadows gloom. 
The marriage bell foretells the l>ell that tolls, 
x\nd all the world's a sepulchre, or tomb. 



^>,'■ Of-tf ■• J(.-. 




'GOD IS THE SUN, THE WARMTH, THE WONIIER, ANIi THE Mll.HI. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 45 



Pakt IV. 



THE D.VWiSr OK FAITH. 



Grief held me e'en as bv a single hair 

Over a gulf of utter blank despair, 

Yet, by this thread I climbed unto the height 

Of one bright star and saw that God was there. 



Taith is a bridge on which we rest our feet, 
Cool, canopied, to shade ns from the heat 
Of our inventions, which do war with faith, 
A bridge that leadeth to God's mercy seat. 

God is the sun, the warmth, the wonder and the might, 
The perfect morning after darkest niglit, 
A song of joy after a dirge of ]iain. 
The heart beat in a bosom that is light. 

God's angels are His thoughts, that day and uiglit 
Watch over us, upholding truth and right ; 
Swifter they are than anything we know. 
And worhls to them are as a feather light. 

Wlien Goil of old revealed to man His might, 
His face was always iiidden from their sight, 
Lest they that saw through seeing might lose all. 
E'en as the sun absorI)s all lesser light. 



46 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



We cannot stray beyond our Shepherd's keep, 
Out of the pastures where He feeds His sheep ; 
All tlirough this life we feel the gentle crook, 
And then at last God smiles when mortals weep. 

Over the frozen earth God lays His hands, 
And it is Spring, all nature understands 
The touch divine, and all the earth is glad 
E'en to the smallest grain of ocean's sands. 




" ALL NATURE UNDERSTANDS THE TOUCH DIVINE. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER TOEMS. 4" 

Hope rules the world when Spring comes back again. 
Tears are forgotten in the April rain, 
Joy fills the cup unto the bubbling brim, 
For love is written in the field and lane. 

Hymns in the woods and iinthcnis by the sea, 
Singing afield and warbling on the lea, 
Chonis of wind and solo of the rill, 
0, wondrous strains of nature's rhapsody! 

Soul of the mountain, soid of the monarch pine. 
Spirit of earth that wanders with the wind. 
Heart of the torrent pulsing Avild and free. 
These si)irits brave are kindred unto mine. 

A pleasant thougiit that when this body goes 
Back to its native earth, perhaps a rose 
May blossom from the dust that it is made, 
And some sick child may hold it to his nose. 

The wind, the rain, the sunshine, and the dew, 
^Vll heljD to bring the flowers to me and you, 
And so in life the mingled good and ill 
Shall teach us truth, and make our hearts more true. 

There is a something in the earth and air 
That holds my spirit from a dull despair, 
A sense of life beyond our utmost ken, 
A kinship with all life, somehow, somewhere. 



48 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



When liop'e deferred dntli ope its petals wide, 
Unfolding tnith for which the heart has sighed, 
How fragrant is the mora with that late rose, 
How sweet with truth that early bloom denied! 

Grief came to me one night in sore distress, 
I conld not make her sorrow more or less. 
But gentle words I gave, sweet ministry. 
When lo ! my own grief turned to happiness. 

Grief drew me down, e'en to the depths i>f hell. 
Witli pain and bitterness too dark to tell : 
Love found nie there and led me l)y the hand 
I'nder his lialevon skies, and all was wi'll. 




'THKRK IS SOMETHING IN THK EARTH ANI> AIR. 



THE HOPE OK THE WORLD AND OTHER I'OEMS. 49 

The restless wind once said unto the I'ose, 
"Tlieve is a vale where brighter flora grows 
Than in this clime ;"' the rosebud blushed and said, 
"God placed me here, jierliaps our Fatiier knows." 

To wear thy heavy cross without a frown. 
Bearing life's load where others lay it down, 
Ho2)ing, enduring to the bitter end. 
This is the test of streng-th, and Heaven's crown. 



Pakt Y. 

thk hope ol-' the world. 

Deejj calls unto deep and planets unto stars, 
Sun unto earth and \'enus unto Mars, 
All sjDace, all matter, calls unto its own, 
Across the void that human progress bars. 

We know God by the deeds that He has done; 
This noble earth, the stars, the moon, the sun. 
All wondrous fair, and made for our delight, 
Eeniin<l us houi'ly "i the perfect One. 

God breathed a breatli and from TTis nostrils blew 
Ten thousand worlds that tiirough dim vastness flew 
So great His power, and yet each blade of grass 
Was fashioned fair and everv flower lie knew. 



50 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Wlien blows the tempest in tbe forest trees, 
Until they thrash their arms and bend their knees, 
Didst ever think this is God's symphony. 
His wind-harp striking chords in minor keys ? 

When God doth love, His thoughts become so bright 
That all the suns and stars renew their light ; 
But if His love should cease. His thoughts to burn, 
The worlds would sudden be in darkest night. 

If shadows are but substance half defined, 
May not the shadows falling on mankind 
E'en point our vision to the perfect light. 
That seen full force, our feeble sight might blind? 




"and f.vkrv flower he knew." 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 5 I 

We cannot flee from God's infinitude, 
Ho boundetli all with endless fathcrliood, 
O'er land and sea lie broodeth with His wings, 
E'en as the mother-fowl above lier brood. 

We ask of God a miracle to-day, 
E'en as the Pharisees of old did say, 
"Show ns a sign," yet miracles abound 
At every turn upon life's varied way. 

Upon my back the load has ligliter grown. 
Since God's own Son descended from His throne 
And took on flesh and di-ained the cup of death. 
Yet did nut die, but claimed lis for His own. 

Give me, O Lord, a little grace each day, 
Teach my rebellious lips each night to say, ■ 
"Thy will be done," and with the morning light 
Give faith to see one step on duty's way. 

Let all the sin, the bitterness in me. 
Pass like the wind over a summer sea, 
Let shame and guilt be melted as the snow, 
And leave my soul for truth and fancy free. 



Unto the great soul truth alone is great, 
The menial mind the love of Christ would sate 
With its own groveling, its own appetite, — 
Thus man is arbiter of his own fate. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Eacli deed we do that Christ's loxe could not bless 
Shall make oiir own love just so much the less, 
Shall be an insect eating at oui- rose, 
The flower of life tliat we call happiness. 

Man is at once a suppliant and king. 
Truth is his cro^^^^, and love his offering; 
The robe of truth and beauty he may wear, 
Or in the dust his garment he may fling. 

When man shall lose the life that is his own, 
For which he stands supreme, apart, alone, 
His self is dead, and though the body lives. 
It matters not, it is but flesh and bone. 

Wlien sorrow takes us sternly liy the iiand 
And leads us qiiicldy to an unknown land, 
By jagged paths that wound our naked feet. 
Hold thou, O Lord of love, our other hand. 

'T were joy indeed to cleave this grassy mound. 
And rise to heaven at a single bound. 
And find at once the key to mystery. 
Instead of mounting upward round by round. 

A love for all God's creatures, small or great, 
A lack of malice, envy, gi-eed, and hate, 
A look, a word, kind, simple, and sincere, 

These are the thini;s tliat make man truly great. 



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u ER LAMl AND SEA HE DROOIIETH W I IH HIS WINGS. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 5$ 

THE BIRD CHORUS. 

SING, ROBIN, SING. 



Sing, robin, sing, another song for me, 

Sing, robin, sing of human destiny, 

For my soul is heavy, and I fain wonld wake 

Mem'ries that are sleeping, ere the heartstrings break. 

Sing, mistress, sing ni)on my orchard tree. 
Gladly would I sing another song for thee, 
But my nest has fallen and the magic note 
Quivers like an arrow in the songster's throat. 

Sing, robin, sing, you and I together, 

Nor mind the aching in our hearts, nor mind the stormy 

weather ; 
O, we '11 sing of human sorrow and the cadence of our pen 
Will lV)rever find an answer in the br<iken hearts of men. 



HEY, ROBERT LINCOLN. 

Hey, Robert Lincoln, down in the meadows, 
Singing thy praises unto tlio morn. 

Courting the sunbeams, shunning the shadows, 
Trilling and tojipling over the corn. 



56 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Ilev, Robert Lincoln, tell me the reason 

Wliy thon art ever o'erflowing with mirth, 

Hast thou not heard of a dark winter season 

Wiien the glad suid)eanis tlee frcmi the earth i 

Ilev, Robert Lincoln, thon art a fellow 

Who never conldst carol life's tcnderest song, 

Chasing the simbeams over a shallow 

Tells lis not whether the current he strong. 













ISiiiPftft 




'CHASINC, THE SUNBEAMS OVER A SHALLOW. 



THE HOl'E OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 57 



TilE SKVLAKK S SOXG. 

Ujjward, upward, upward mounting, 

Like an arrow from a bow. 
Singing ever as the fountain. 

When the scented breezes blow, 
Swiftly, as a lover goes, 
Shyly, as unfolds the rose, 
Soars the skylark to the sun. 
Ere the day has well begun. 

Upward, iipward, upward soaring, 

As the heart mounts iqi at bliss. 
All his little soul outpouring. 

Like a maiden in her kiss ; 
Singing that the world may hear, 
Singing to its dull old ear, 
See the skylark's radiant form 
Like a sunbeam through the storm. 

Upward, upward, upward springing. 
Like bright Flora from the sod. 

Like the skylark in his singing. 

Let my soul mount up to God ; 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Singing, singing, as I go, 
Leaving eartlily things below ; 
Casting Iiiiman gi-ief away, 
Let me mount to perfect day. 

THE Wiril'-POOR-WILl/8 SOXG. 

The whiji-poor-will sang on a summer's eve, 

When tlie dusk and the dew were falling, 
A song of woe for the world ti> Aveave; 

So ever he was calling, 
Whiji-poor-will, whip-poor-will, down by the mill, 
Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, imder the hill, 
Whip-i^oor-will, whip-poor-will, sorrowing still. 




WHIP-POOR-WILL, WHIP-POOR-WILL, UNDER THE HILL. 



THE HOPE OP' THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



59 



Tlie wliip-iDoor-will sang througli the summer night, 

Sang to a heart that was aching, 
Thrilled it and willed it to overflow qnite. 

And kept it forever from breaking. 
Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, down by the mill, 
AVhip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, under the hill, 
Whip-poor-will, whip-poor-will, sorrowing still. 




A XIGHTIXGALE SOXG. 



Singing in the gloaming, when the day is ending, 
Singing to the pale moon and the evening star. 

Singing to the toiler who is homeward wending, 

To his humble cottage where his treasures are. 



6o THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Singing, singing, singing till his throat is sore, 
Singing to the heavens and my lattice door. 

Singing in the starlight, he the riistv coated, 

Singing to the welkin when the world's at rest, 

Singing- in the silence, he the silver throated, 
Singing to his l;)ird-love and his hidden nest. 

Singing, singing, singing till his throat is sore, 
Singing to the heavens ajid my lattice door. 



TBILLS AXD TUBNS. 

THE VIOLIX. 

T)id some poor human heart in grief and sin, 
T.ie huried whoi'o the tree trnid<, drawing in 
The damp and mold, did feed upon its pain, 
Till grief was Imildcd in the violin ? 

love's invocatiox. 

The dew is on the rose, my love, my light. 
Love whispers in the wind of thee, this night. 
My heart is tremliling like a frighted leaf. 
Come forth, my love, come forth, my sonl's deliglit. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 6 1 
A BOUQUET. 

Lilies for thoughts as pure, my love, as thiue, 
Koses for those that guilty blush like mine, 
Eoses and lilies in one fair bouquet, — 
Come closer, love, thy arms about me twine. 



man's sacrilege. 

God taught the bird his rhaj^sody to sing, 
God gave him motion and the joy of wing ; 
Man can destroy the songster and the song, 
And still, to God, make daily offering. 

DOES SHE KNOW ? 

IJpon the groimd I lie and hold my ear 
Close to the sod, where surely I may hear ; 
Dear mother, I am bending o'er thy bed, 
I '11 ask this daisy if she knows I 'm here. 

TEAES AT DAWN. 

Wlaat is the matter, little violet. 
Why are the lashes of thine eyes so wet? 
Did some one come and kiss thee in the night, 
And this fair morning didst thy love forget ? 



62 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

THE ENVOY. 

Who is this herald thund'riug at the gate, 
Upon a foaming steed that will not wait ? 
Haste, open wide, and d(.i not anger him; 
He is an envoy from the realm of fate. 



ALL IS WELL. 

The grass grows green, just where her hei'O fell, 
His grave is gniarded b}' an asphodel. 
And phoenix-like, truth blossoms from his dust 
To tell the livina- that the dead are well. 



THE LITTLE STAR. 

A little star once said unto the night, 
"Thou art so vast, mine is so small a light" ; 
Yet forth he went to battle with the dark. 
And myriads more came forth to view the fight. 

MY HEAVEN. 

Let heaven's choir and chorister be birds, 
Its verdant fields l>e filled with flocks and herds, 
With tiny rivers laughing do\\Ti each slope. 
And for disquietude be gentle words. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 







Willi 11-NV KlVKKi l.AUGlliNC DOWN EACH SLOPK. 



FALLEN" PETALS. 

Yes, one by one the petals of my rose 

Are swiftly falling- while tiie night wind blows ; 

Will they eontinne falling one by one 

Until alone the thorny calyx shows ? 



WHO BARTERS MAN. 

Who barters man, himself shall not be free, 
One woman's tears are all earth's misery, 
Where human flesh and blood are bought and sold 
The curse of Cain upon that land shall be. 



64 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

MY WORLD. 

A little joy within the cup of life, 
A little home, a sweetheart and a wife, 
A love of truth, and hope for all mankind, 
This is enough to nerve the arm for strife. 



A MEMORY. 

What 's in the fragrance of a violet, 
That it should make my eyes grow sudden wet? 
My motlier held some in her tired hand, 
The last I saw, metliinks she holds them yet. 

art's secret. 

'T is not the skillful brush, the pigment's flow, 
That maketh hearts to thrill and tears to flow; 
It is the soul within the painter's eyes 
That, focused long, doth make the canvas glow. 

freedom afield. 

Freedom for heart and freedom for the mind. 
In open fields and meadows man may find. 
But in this prison-walled metropolis 
He lives half-stifled, soul and body blind. 



THE HOrE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 65 




■• I'kLkl.u.M Al ItLI/ 



HEAVEN IS ABOUT US. 

Heaven is about ns in the earth and air, 
God is above, below, and everywhere. 
He watcheth as a mother o'er her child 
Each evening when it kneels with her in prayer. 



THE RAINBOW. 



She heaves in sight just when the storm clouds lift, 
A wondrous painted boat between the rift ; 
All without canvas and without a crew, 
Upon a sea of light, she goes adrift. 



66 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

GKEED. 

When love of gold shall fill the human mind, 
Till man forgets, and is no longer kind 
To darkened lands that know no law, no light, 
And grope for truth, then he, himself, is blind. 



A BIT OF HEAVEN. 

Can heaven be more beautiful than Spring, 

When from their caves the nimble wood-nymphs spring 

To scatter wild flowers in among the grass, 

While overhead the birds of hea\'en sing? 



THE PRESENT JOY. 

Be light, my heart, the world is fair to-day, 
Eejoice, my soul, it is not always May, 
For when the Winter howls about thy bed. 
For Summer's beauty vainly shalt thou pray. 



POOR ISRAEL. 

Poor Israel ! coming from captivity, 
"Wliere God by miracles had set her free. 
Saw not the truth, nor did she understand 
Wien Pharaoh's host was swallowed by the sea. 




HKART OF THl 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



69 



MISCELLANEOUS POEMS. 



THE OTHER DAY. 

The other day we played upon the lea, 

Where 'neath the grass a nimble river ran. 

But now I hear the murmur of the sea, 
And we are turning home as we began ; 

The other day we dreamed of things afar. 

But now we hear the breakers on the bar. 




■ WHERE 'neath THE GRASS A NIMBLE RIVER RAN." 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Tlie other day we grew to manhood's strength, 
Its hours were long and full of anxious care, 

But then we toiled and gloried in their length 
And laughed at wrinkles and at silver hair 

When Ave were young with strength to toil and plan, 

But O, my friend, how swift the river ran ! 

!Now bowed by years we stand beside the gate. 

Life's golden hours have passed us, one by one. 

When we were young for time we could not wait. 
But now, alas, om- little hour is done. 

The other day life seemed an endless span. 

But 0, my friend, how swift the river ran ! 



ALONE. 

Alone man draws his first uncertain breath, 
Alone he journeys to the vale of death, 
Alone through life in rapture or despair 
Bearing his cross which others may not share. 



THE UNBIDDEN GUEST. 

Earth's greatest guest the other night 
Came knocking, knocking at our door. 

We did not open with delight 
But did tearfully implore 

Him to leave us aud not vex us 
W^ith his shadow on the floor. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

But the stranger did not hear us, 

For he lingered in the hall 
And was ever, ever near iis. 

In the springtime and the fall, 
And \\'e shuddered at the nearness 

Of his shadow on the wall. 

But at last we learned to know him 

As a true friend in disguise ; 
When no longer we did show him 

That dundi terror in our eyes, 
Then he vanished like the phantom 

Of tlie desert aud the skies. 



AT THE THRESHOLD. 

Just on the threshold, thougli my locks are gray, 
Waiting for morning and the break of day ; 
Waiting till time shall slip the heavy bar 
To ope the door and see things as they are. 

TEAES FOR THE LIVING. 

Mourn for tlie living, but grieve not for the dead ; 
No more their eyes with weeping will he red, 
ISTo more their hearts with aching will be numb, 
ISTo more their Hj^s for sorrow will be dumb; 
No more their sleep shall end in dreams of fright, 
No more their day shall banished be, by night. 
But theirs to sleep from care and sorrow free 
Until they wake in God's eternity. 



72 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

ANOTHER DAT. 

There is one comfort at the setting sun, 
One consolation when the day is done; 
Its toil is o'er, its bitterness is past. 
And can no more their shadow on von cast. 




"WHEN THE DAY IS DONE." 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 73 
FOLLY AND FRIENDSHIP. 

The thing man knows the least, he loves the best, 
For ever on the unlvno^^^l he nmst look ; 
His honored friend is like a tinie-wom book, 
Both laid aside to please a transient guest, — 
The friend he knoAvs the least, he loves the best. 
The heart of man is like a bird, at rest 

When winging to some imdiscovered nook, 
And like the restless wind, and like the brook 
That ever seeks the ocean with new zest, 
The world it knows the least it loves the best. 



TIRED HANDS. 

Folded they lie upon her tranquil breast. 

My mother's tired liands, their labor done, 

Knotted and scarred in battles they have won, 
Worn to the quick by love's uiikind behest. 
Pulseless they lie, while from the crimson west 

A flood of gioiy from the setting sun 

Shines on her face ; I hear the deep well done, 
God's angelus that calls her soul to rest. 
Found is the Holy Grail of knightly quest 

Here in her home, where such brave deeds were done 

As knight ne'er saw since chivalry begun. 
She suffered, toiled, and died, God knows the rest, 

And if Christ's crovra shines not above her cross 

Then all is loss, immeasurable loss. 



74 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

AN EASTEK MESSAGE. 

Out. of the blixe, oiit of the vast niiknown, 
Thrilling the stars with love's triumphant tone, 
Cometh a message by the breezes blown. 

Cometh a song to all down-trodden men, 
Full of compassion easy for their ken, 
Christ loves us no\v e'en as lie loved us then. 

god's lEANDATE. 

When God first breathed the breath of life in man. 
And over all creation gave him sway, 
This was His mandate, so the angels say : 

"Thou art My son, ily heir ; all through the span 

Of endless feons since the days began, 

I 've dreamed of thee, thou wert My child alway ; 
Behold all things I give to thee this day 

That thou mayst see My love and understand. 
And this I ask, this is My one decree : 
Be faithfiil to the trust I place in thee 

And from thy heart let no base impulse spring. 
Defile not these, the things that I have made. 
Fear naught but sin, of grief be not afraid, 

Nor even death, for I am Lord and King." 

love's AWAKENING. 

Love laid him down in the shade to sleep 

Once in the month of ilay ; 
A rustic maid, her tryst to keep, 

Did chance to come his way ; 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. ]] 

She stooped to pick a violet, 

When Cupid quick upgot ; 
She wears the flower on her bosom yet, 

A sweet forget-me-not. 



A DEEAM OF DEATH. 

Once in the silent hours, while all things slept. 

And night's dark mantle o'er the broad earth lay, 

I fell asleep, too weary e'en to pray : 

Then on my vision from the sky there swept 

A wondrous host, while God's oa\ti beauty leapt 

In dazzling radiance about their way; 

With rhythmic wings they came, while far away 

Enthralling music through the stillness crept. 

Upon a silver cloud they lifted me. 

As light as air it seemed and perfect rest 

Was in its every fold ; then swift we passed 

Through time and space beyond life's serried sea. 

Till my tired head was laid on Jesus' breast, 

With pain and grief and death forever past. 



TEANSITION. 

If man could go from lowest depths of sin 
At on© great bound to heaven's high estate. 
Then heaven were worse than hell and love than hate, 

For thev must strive for truth who enter in. 



78 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 
A BLOSSOM FROM MEMORY. 

O priest or priestess robed in pink and white, 
Swinging your censer when the breezes stir, 

With sweetest fragrance fill the starry night. 

And let me dream awhile the joys that were. 



OMNIPEESENCE. 

He sees and feels, supports and strengtliens all, 
The stars like sheep come quickly at His call. 
The bud unfolds, up-reaching to His face. 
In smallest things we see omniscient grace, — 
He stays the ocean with a grain of sand, 
The blade -of grass He covers with His baud. 
He is the source, the author, and the end, 
The rich man's God, the poor man's only friend ; 
Then pain and death and bitterness are naught, 
If into life His perfect love is wrought. 



TO MILTOX. 

If out of thy deep gloom could come such rays divine 

From truth's celestial star, that only deigns to shine 

With such pure light as thine thrice in a thovisand years, 

I jiray that my poor eyes may blinded be by tears 

Till God shall understand my deep humility 

And, through my blinded eyes, my sightless soul may see. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



79 



EEJUVEXATIOX. 



With a sense of something growing, 

Something stirring in the earth, 
Blossoms forming, ri\-ers flowing, 

ISTature rising to new birth, 
'How the heart of man grows lighter, 

And a new hoyc in liim stirs, 
As creation folds him tighter. 

And he lays his heart to hers. 





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■BLOSSOMS FORMING, RIVEKS FLUVVING." 



8o THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 
THE patriot's PBAYEE. 

God of love, look down ou us to-night 

Wliere camp fires burn beneath Thy tender stars, 
Sons of the battlefield, with many scars, 

Whose only lamp of hope is freedom's light; 

Who turn not backward, nor to left nor right. 

Whom death and hell and liideous prison bars 
Cannot dismay, who, clinging to the spars 

Of their wrecked ship of state, thovigh sinking, fight. 
O God, have mercy on these war-sick men ! 
As Thou of old didst rescue from the den 

Of lions one brave soul, so resciTC these ; 

With guilt and crime forever brand the name 
Of conqueror, and stamp with direst shame 

Brute force that crimson turns the rivers and the seas. 



HEAVEN. 

Man is not set within a jasper wall 

Where he is good perforce and cannot fall, 

But heaven is a self-appointed state 

Of man grown strong in triith, by love made great. 



O TE OF LITTLE FAITH. 

The sun, the rain, the seasons, and the flowers. 
The joy, the truth, the a?ons, and the hours. 
All come by God's decree, by Him are made. 
Then wherefore tremble ? wherefore be afraid ? 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



81 



THOUGHTS FOE NOVEMBER. 

N^ow is the boundary line 'twixt gviiwtli and deartli, 
^V]len \\-aning Aiitnnm, as the days grow dim, 
With wrinkled leaves, like hands, implores of him 
Whose iron fingers soon shall clutch the earth, 
A few more davs in which to scatter mirth 




WHKN WANING AUTUMN, AS THE DAVS GROW DIM." 



82 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Across the dreary world to ocean's rim; 
A few moi'e sparkling drops of joy to swim 
Upon Life's cup, ere all that came to birth 
Shall fade and die, returned to mother earth. 
So man in his Kovember oft will pray 
For one more chance, for one more weary day 
In which to live and strive to prove his worth, — • 
Though life is dearth and death is Paradise, 
He cannot see it for the veil before his eyes. 



THE HEART OF MAN A FLOWER. 

If the heart of man were but a flower 

That God had planted here 
For a summer's day, in a snnny bower, 

Then never a sigh or tear ; 

If the heart of man were bnt a rose 
With never a frost to sear — 

But the summer comes and tlie blossom goes, 
JSTo one knows whither, dear. 



ALTITUDE. 

This feather from the golden eagle's wing 
Hatli seen the world, a pageant, 'neath it swing. 
The gray old sea, a wi'inkled monster, crawl, 
Where Himalaya was a twisted string. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 83 
ENOUGH FOR ME. 

I do not ask that augol throngs stand by 
To swing the gates ajar, when I draw nigh, 
And bid me enter in the Master's name ; 
But bowed and broken, full of grief and shame, 
May I just enter in on hands and knees, 
Knowing that He oiir human weakness sees, 
And covers o'er the heart by sorrow broke 
With His vast pity, even as a ck>ak, 
And turns to gain the seeming bitter loss. 
And shapes a cro\vn from out the heavy cross. 



TRUTH IS GOD. 

If one small grain of truth should die, 

And fade into oblivion, 
The world would zigzag through the sky, 

And God himself would be undone. 



RESIGNATION. 

Dried are the tears that sad November shed. 
And all her dismal clouds have taken flight ; 
Her somber grays and browns are changed to white, 

And leaden skies are steely blue instead. 

Out of the deep unknoAvn the moon hath led 

Her m\Tiad stars and crow^led the wondrous night. 
And spanned the heavens with bars of silver light ; 



84 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

Swift legions they, yet no man heard their tread. 
Now Nature lays aside her monrning veil, 

Her wrinkled leaves and grasses, sere and brown, 
Down 'neath the snow are little more than dust ; 
Yet calm, resigned, thoiigh naked, mnte and pale. 

She waits God's pleasure and a vernal crown, 
Teaching impatient man her silent, simjale trust. 

THE CBEED OF THE HILLS. 

This is the creed the hills declare to me : 
"Yea, truth and beauty live eternally ; 
There is no spark of God aglow in man. 
No tender thought, nor heavenly ecstasy. 
But shall outlive yon granite rocks, and be 
A jjart of God when earth hath lost its plan." 

' . HEAVEN IS WHEEE GOd's ANGELS AEE. 

I 

If our love of things immortal 
Could exceed our love of sin. 

Then would earth be Heaven's portal 
And our heaven here begin. 

ESCAPED. 

For fourscore years they boimd his heart and brain 
In that dark ceU with stem existence's chain, 
But when his ransom came, Death turaed the key ; 
Though Life was giiard, the prisoner went free. 




TKUTH SHALL OUTLIVE YON GRANITE ROCKS. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



87 



PEACE ON EARTH. 



On Freedom's heights I see the camp fires burn, 
Where her brave soldiers, weary, lie asleep, 
While overhead the constellations keep 

Their nightly watch o'er action sad and stern. 

Brave are these hearts, and manfully they spurn 

The traitor's kiss, — they are no hireling's sheep ; 
ThoiTgh babe and mother by the hearth-side weep, 

They heed them not, and though tlieir sad hearts turn 

To home and friends in watches of the night, 




IN WATCHES UK THE NIGHT." 



88 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

At war's stem call they leap with wild delight. 
O Prince of Peace, when, will Thy kingdom come, 

When will this strife among Thy peojDle cease, 
When clear above the muffled fife and diiim 

Shall bleeding nations hear God's hymn of peace? 



AS A LITTLE CHILD. 

The aged pilgrim goes with doubt and fear. 
And knocks, imcertain, at his Father's gate. 
The child, with eager hands that cannot wait. 

Seeks entrance ; God to him is very near. 



ECONOMY OF NATURE. 

Since first God called creation from dark void, 
And set His seal on all that He had made, 

!N^o molecule has ever been destroyed 

Or e'en an atom of His worlds mislaid. 



THE MIGHT OV LOVE. 

^0 prison wall the might of Love can stay; 
Love nerves the hand that else were pottei-'s clay ; 
Love gives ns life; all thrungh, Love is our friend. 
Our small ]>oginning, and our mighty end. 

L.ofC. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



89 



MEDITATION. 



The wind is singing to tJie gray old sea, 

The waves are talking to the silent shore, 
The seashell whispers what the breakers roar. 

While I alone am silent on the lea. 



ONLY A LITTLE. 

Ont of the heart of things unknown 
There comes a little truth each day ; 

Though we do not feel that we have grown 
Yet God has seen and marked the way. 




•OUT OF THE HEART OF THINGS UNKNOWN. 



go THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 
MY CUP EUNNETJI OVEE. 

A song, a sigh, a langb, a gentle breeze, 
A drowsy rustling in the half-leaved trees, 
A cloud, a sky of deep and tender blue, 
A home, a friend, a sweetheart always true, 
This is the joy God gives to me and you. 



PEATEE. 



Each thought, each breath, each deed we do or dare, 
Is symbolized in God's own thought as prayer; 
We cannot move, or breathe, or strive, or be. 
But it is felt all through immensity. 



THE EXILE. 

Not as the hated conqueror went, who reddened all the earth 
With sick'ning seas of human blood, nor counted human life 
E'en as a feather in the scales with which he weighed mankind, 
Goeth our knight of lilwrty unto the prison isle. 
No curse of orphans and of wives and aged mothers bent. 
Robbed of the crutch they leaned iipon, the strong right arm of 

youth 
That may no more encompass them, shall follow in bis wake. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 



9' 



N'o curse of burning capitol, or desecrated field, 
Of ruined cliurcli and sepulchcr, of blackened bearth and borne, 
Sball follow, like a bird of prey, after tbe exile's sbip. 
Only the prayers and tears of those who struggled to be free, 
Who staked their all in freedom's cause, their blood, their 

brawn, their bone, 
Shall follow this heroic heart, as night doth follow day. 
But not alone the exile goes, the tlioughts and hopes of men 
In every land, in every clime, where freedom's songs are sung, 
Shall follow him to cheer and bless his sad captivity. 
His noble deeds, his sacrifice, have burned his name with fire 
Into the hearts and brains of men, in bold italic type 
That lapse of time, or height or depth, can nevermore erase. 




AS NILiHl DUIII FULLUW DAY. 



92 THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER POEMS. 

GENERATION AND REGENERATION. 

God set the stars His firmament to show, 

Out of dark void He called the sun to burn, 

But if one breath in anger He should blow, 
The universe to spirit would return. 



AN ALIEN. 

I am a stranger in a foreign land 
Whose mother tongue I dimly luiderstand, 
Whose laws and creeds I may not even know, 
I pray thee, Azrael, let an alien go. 



A VISION OF LIFE. 

If night revealed what day diil not disclose, 
Then when man yields him to his last repose 
And that vast night of death comes swiftly down 
May he not see what now no mortal knows ? 



THE COMPACT. 

God said to man, ''If thou wilt Me obey, 
And keep My laws and love Me day by day, 
I '11 give thee strength and wisdom and My love" ; 
Man promised, yet each hour he goes astray. 



THE HOPE OF THE WORLD AND OTHER I'OEMS. 93 

A CLOUD. 

Only the passing of a little cloud 
Will dim the rays of Pha'bus bright and proud ; 
Only the passing of a cloud, a breath, 
And life shall vanish in tlic shroud of death. 



TRUE KIN'GSHIP. 

The king should first be ruler of himself, 
Czar of his spirit, emperor of his mind, 

Above ambition and a greed of pelf, 

And unto all his subjects just and kind. 




-.-SP»- 



Lectures and Readings for 1901 

By Clarence Hawkes. 

In a World of Darkness, 

An illustrated lecture on the life and work of tlie blind. 

A Pleasant Hour, 

A reading in many dialects from the author's own works. 

The Hope of the World 

And Other Selections, 

A reading of purely literary character 
for select circles. 

Terms reasonable, 

Address, CLARENCE HAWKES, Hadley, Mass. 



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a 



"O 



CHICAGO WRITING MACHINE CO. 



CHICAGO, U. S. A. 



NOV 21 liiUO 



